Wings
by Coutelier
Summary: High above the world, amongst the clouds and the mountains, there once lived a young girl. She was different from most other girls in two important respects. First, she was an elf, with large almond shaped eyes and tapered ears that reached almost the top of her head. Second, she could fly. This is her story.
1. Prologue

The story of the life of the wingless wonder, destined one day to be not only the best friend of a demigod, but also in her own right one of the greatest magic users the world has ever seen. This story goes through Aerie's life, from her childhood, shortly before she was captured, through the bad stuff of her being broken and sold on to the circus, meeting Quayle, Bentha, her early studies in magic, her prayers to Baervar getting answered for the first time, until it finally reaches the point when her story joins with that of Imoen and the others.

The character of Aerie was created by and belongs to Bioware.

**Wings**

**Prologue**

_There shall be wings! If the accomplishment be not for me, 'tis for some other. The spirit cannot die; and man, who shall know all and shall have wings..._

- Leonardo da Vinci

* * *

High above the world, amongst the clouds and the mountains, there once lived a young girl. She was fair haired, blue eyed and pretty. But, of course, we should never judge a book by its cover; on the inside, she was kind, gentle, and an explorer. She was, however, different from other girls in two important respects. First, she was an elf, with large almond shaped eyes and tapered ears that reached almost the top of her head. Second, she could fly.

On her white feathered wings she soared through the air, unseen by those on the earth below. Even if anyone did look up, she was at such a height that they would have mistaken her for a bird or other flying creature. But she could see far, even see the faces of the funny, round little humans who at first looked like just little black dots on the white, snowy landscape.

They hadn't been there yesterday, she remembered; they seemed to move their houses about on wheels, pulled by large four legged beasts. She wondered what their lives were like, and where they were going, or if they ever wished they could fly… in some ways, she thought, they might have more freedom than her. Imagine, just being able to move your whole house whenever and wherever you wanted! Whereas, she knew that with the sun going down soon, others would come and get her, drag her back to her own home set in the side of a mountain. No matter how much more she wanted to see, the mountain just wasn't going to move anywhere.

She had been warned, many times, to stay away from humans, or even from other elves that Aerdrie Faenya had chosen not to give the gift of flying… she wondered why the goddess thought the Avariel were so special. Also, her elders told her that the humans were dangerous, but she couldn't see how; as far as she could tell, they weren't that much different from her people, except that they couldn't fly and moved their houses everywhere. But, they had mothers and fathers who gathered meat and wood and cooked and took care of their children, who ran around and played games not too dissimilar from any of the games she played with her friends. They certainly didn't seem anything like the drow, whom she'd only ever heard the most terrible stories about; dark elves who lived beneath the earth, coming to the surface only to conquer, enslave and slaughter… just the thought of being trapped down there, in a place where you could never see the sky, chilled her.

The girl was circling above, when she saw a group of children running away from where the adults were chopping wood and preparing their meal. They were giggling and shouting and calling; she couldn't understand what. But it looked two older ones had taken something from a child much smaller, and were teasing the little one by throwing it between each other while he desperately tried in vain to catch it. Her felt for him; she knew what it was like to be smaller than others and bullied. She decided that, since they were moving away from the grownups who could do her harm, she could touch down gently in the high up branches and get a closer look…

* * *

A small boy, hair and clothing as brown as the autumn was before the snow came, huffed and puffed, his short legs struggling to clear the soft, crunchy ground with each hurried step.

"Give… g-give him back," he panted, but refused to give up pursuing his taller siblings. "If you break, I'll… I'll harm you! I will! Just… j-just you see…" he fell to his knees, needing to take a few breaths before pulling himself and resuming what seemed like a hopeless cause.

The older children just laughed. His freckle faced sister threw the toy to the eldest sibling, his brother, who started motioning for her to move away, drawing his arm back for a large… the small boy immediately sensed that this would not go well, jumping and bouncing, red faced and begging his brother to let it go… which he did. Unfortunately, he had greatly misjudged the distance between him and the girl.

The small boy ran forward, his eyes wide in disbelief and horror as he stared helplessly into the high branches. He pointed up, turned to his siblings, and snarled, "y-you… dummies! How am I supposed to get him down now, huh? How!"

The elder siblings looked at each other, simultaneously chilled by a moment of fear and doubt and memories of a slipper. "Let's… get outta here," the brother suggested, "'fore mom and dad catch up to us…" and so they ran.

The small boy remained, growling out his anger as he watched them disappear. When it was clear they weren't returning, he shook his head and looked back up. So high… and there were no good branches low enough for him to climb up. Still, he was not to be defeated yet; he would show 'em. He explored his surroundings for something he could use… there, a broken off branch! A stick… he wasn't sure it would be long enough, but… maybe he could throw it and knock the toy back down.

He went over to it, grumbling, "tupidbigdumbtupidbullies… oneoftheseIoughta…" he knelt down and put his hand on stick. He felt the breeze pick up a slightly and a shadow fall across his face. It took a moment to register how strange that was, since there hadn't been a cloud around a few moments ago. He looked up.

A fair haired creature with big, almond shaped blue eyes and enormous wings glided gently to the ground in front of him, holding out its arms toward him. It smiled sweetly, then spoke in some strange alien tongue.

The boy screamed. And then ran.

* * *

The fair haired girl was puzzled by the reaction. She didn't know what she'd expected; maybe that they would talk and become friends, and every day would meet somewhere in secret and share their different ideas, theories and perspectives on the world… she supposed it was a silly idea. Still, she'd only wanted to help.

Now she was stuck holding this toy and had no idea what to do with it. The first thing she decided was to examine it more closely; it was a rare chance to see what appealed to human children, after all.

It was a wooden carving of one of the four legged beasts they used to pull their homes, and sometimes they themselves rode around on… a horse, she believed it was called. But different from any horse she'd ever seen, as this one had wings attached… which both further puzzled and delighted her.

Before she could puzzle any more about what this meant about human psychology, she heard the voice of the boy again, but this time accompanied by the adults, and one other thing… as she turned her head and looked up at the peak of a snowy mound, another four legged creature bounded across. Smaller than a horse, but much more angry looking, with sharp looking teeth and a long, wet tongue dripping saliva everywhere… she'd seen this before as well, hanging around the humans. Usually, it seemed pretty friendly… but in any case, the adults couldn't be far behind.

She quickly decided to leave the wooden winged horse on the ground, where hopefully the boy would find it. Then, she had to worry about herself. She turned away and started to run, but the yelping, snarling, salivating beast kept gaining on her. Even as her feet kept pounding the ground harder, and harder, and faster, the beast kept getting closer, and closer, until at last it pounced. But by then, her feet had already left the ground. The creature snapped, but caught nothing but air.

The girl smiled, breathing in the sun as her long hair, white tunic, and the pink ribbons around her arms all whipped back and fluttered. She climbed higher and higher into the endless sky; her home, where nothing ever could hurt her and where she was always safe.

* * *

The elder brother scoffed, "you probably just saw an eagle or something."

Their dog continued howling and meandering around in a circle, while the small boy glared angrily, folding his arms across his chest. "It was a girl!" He insisted, "a girl with wings!"

"Oh… a girl with wings. Like an angel?"

The boy thought. "I suppose it could have been… but she kinda looked like an elf as well…"

His brother drawled, "right… don't be so bloody stupid. Why, of all the people in the world, are the gods gonna send an angel to watch over you? I mean, there's like floods and famines and wars going on, but… oh no, look! Little Bobby lost his toy horse… better send someone to take care of that right away."

"I don't know if she was an angel or not! But I know she had wings, and I know she spoke to me!"

"What did she say?"

"What?!"

"Not every day an angel speaks to you, so you must remember what she said, right?"

Little Bobby was almost entirely red, like he'd been holding his breath too long. "I… I don't know," he admitted, "it was all in foreign or something… but I still know what I saw!"

The elder brother just shook his head, looking to his parents with a helpless shrug. There was nothing in the skies but birds.

Even Bobby started to question. He knew he'd seen something, but he'd ran away so fast… maybe it really was just a big bird. But then, he saw Pegasus, whom he'd feared lost, standing upright in the snow… someone had to have placed him there…

* * *

The fair haired girl sat down and rested a moment atop a precipice. She tucked her knees into her chest and put her arms around them, the now setting sun still tickling her cheeks as she closed her eyes and allowed herself to dream.

She knew momma would be angry when she got home but, all in all, it had been another exciting day and she didn't want it to end. She didn't want to sleep either. Sleep was for sleepy people. She may have had her eyes closed, but she was wide awake, her head full of questions that needed answering.

The sun felt nice, but what exactly was it? Where did its warmth come from? How did it get there? She'd asked her teachers these, but none of them seemed to know. They said the gods had made it, but then, who made the gods? Did the gods make people as well, and if so, why? To worship them? Or were there people first, and then they made the gods to worship? She'd read once about an avariel who'd said that maybe, a long time ago, elves, humans, orcs, dwarves, had all been the same, but over time they split into groups and became different, and then gods and magic got involved as well… people had laughed at him because he found no evidence. But maybe there was evidence, somewhere, if only avariel ever left the mountain… the long haired priestesses never seemed to like it when she asked about all this. Why did women have longer hair than men, anyway? Lots of avariel men did have quite long hair, but not as long as hers. Did they cut it more often, or did hers grow faster? Maybe she would ask her father about it if he was in…

Fortunately, before her head filled to bursting point, she felt a firm but gentle nudge on her shoulder. Sighing, she raised her head from her knees, knowing what she would see. She wished she had longer to think of more questions.

A tall elven man with fine angular features, wearing gold armour, and with his wings outstretched. Next to him was a woman, arms crossed, similarly dressed in a resplendent metallic uniform tailored for her wings. The girl knew them quite well, by now; they were brother and sister.

The man smiled as he shook his head. "Get lost on your home way from school again, did you, Aerie?"

Aerie looked away, shoulders dipping as she grumbled, "poopie…"


	2. Chapter One

**Wings**

**Chapter One**

Aerie flapped her wings to gain height, then allowed herself to glide a while, Thalion and Nellas flanking her to either side, making sure she didn't get lost again. It was a lot of fuss over nothing, as far as Aerie was concerned; she could have easily found her own way home. But, she did like being with the hunters. They had explored much more of the mountains and surrounding valleys than most other avariel, and so could answer questions.

First, though, as the cool air washed around her, she straightened her neck so that she was looking straight down, watching the landscape rolling and changing. Snow covered fields, little clumps of frosted trees, stony white capped peaks… a gaping hole in the side of one the hills, bigger, deeper and darker than any other cave entrance she'd seen. Like a great black hole in the white landscape, slowly sucking everything else in. Her wide eyes were certainly drawn into it, anyway.

"What's that?" She chirped.

The brother, Thalion, followed her gaze, then slowly turned back his head. "Old dwarven mine," he explained, "abandoned centuries ago."

"Have you ever looked inside?"

"What for?"

"I don't know," Aerie said, sticking her tongue in the side of her cheek for a moment. "The dwarves might have hidden away secrets… or treasure…"

"Yes. Or, the place might be overrun with monsters, with huge teeth and jaws, and enormous slashing claws…"

None of which dissuaded Aerie. "And treasure?!" She insisted, beaming.

Nellas gently laughed. "You're only encouraging her, you know."

Thal sighed, a little bit resigned. He spoke again, firmly but without seeming harsh. "Look… caves, and places like that, just aren't a place for us avariel. You can easily become lost down there, or trapped, and it'll be a long time before anyone can find you. So save us some trouble and just stay out, okay?"

Aerie put a little finger to her lip, and 'hmmed'.

"Aerie…"

The girl grinned. "Okay!" She proclaimed with a sloppy salute.

It wasn't clear that Thal was put at ease at all by that. But as he shook his head, his expression turned from one of mild concern and bemusement, to fierce. "Hold a moment," he said. He then dipped his right wing and fell and turned away from, before quickly climbing. Confused, Aerie tried to turn as well, if only to see why he'd suddenly shot off. But Nella took her hand, guiding her down to a safe landing place on a rock ahead of them.

The girl turned around, squinting, her eyes coming to rest on two dots high above, falling fast. She focused on them, making the image come closer… other avariel. Two young men, wings back and arms and legs straight out so that they were falling straight toward the ground like arrows. But what was strange was, they didn't look scared. They were laughing.

Aerie was dumbfounded. "What are they doing?" She asked.

Nel answered bitterly, "being damned fools…"

"Why would anyone let themselves fall? Don't they know they could die doing that?"

"They do," the woman sighed, sadly, "but you see, sometimes people want to fall." Nellas opened her eyes and looked down on the girl with her head tilted confusedly. "I'm sorry. It's a game, you see. A stupid and very dangerous game, played by people trying to prove how brave, or rather, foolhardy, they are. They each climb as high up as they can, and then, simply make themselves fall as fast as possible toward the ground. First one to start to fly, loses… but I'm afraid quite often they all lose."

It still made no sense to Aerie. There were other games you could play, like running on water; that was fun. Surely more fun than this, and the only danger was that you might sink in. Why would anyone even invent a game that could get them killed? It made no sense. And yet, she kept looking, watching them fall while her heart beat faster and her chest grew more heavy… what must it be like to feel the air rushing past and the ground rushing toward you like that? Scary…

Thalion was nearly on them now, and they spotted his approach. Each of the falling fools spread out their wings and scattered away, although he kept chasing them for a while, yelling various expletives, she was sure.

Aerie was still watching, when Nellas knelt beside her, gently turning the girl's eyes toward her by the chin. "Listen, Aerie; it's never brave to risk your life just to prove something idiotic and pointless like this. If you ever need to risk your life for something, make sure it's something worthwhile, okay?"

The girl nodded, "okay."

* * *

Shortly after, the trio continued on, flying deeper into the mountains. The sky was warm and golden as the peaks grew higher and steeper. Nothing confined to just walking on legs or rolling on wheels could ever make it up here. And it was up here, on the highest plateau, that the avariel had built the city of Faenya-Dail.

They had to fly across most of it to reach Aerie's home. The school, with its smooth stone columns and walls and marble pillars, the open baths kept magically warm, the amphitheatre, where Aerie had seen her mother and many others perform. In the distance, carved into a rock face, were tombs of those who had fallen, just beyond the temples with their domed roofs and a large statue of the goddess herself, Aerdrie Faenya, her arms and wings stretched out over the entire city. Near to her was a second amphitheatre, where the council members met every day with judges and priests and other officials.

Avariel all voted for who to lead them, at least in Faenya-Dail. There were ten elves on the council, and a new one was elected each year. Aerie had heard that there were other avariel cities, far away, and that they had a king. But she'd never seen him.

By this time, fairy lights on top of pillars and in the sky had started to glow, lighting up the ways for the hundreds of avariel to float and flutter across between platforms, and rocky islands suspended in the sky, hanging more like clouds than like rocks. Magic, of course. And of course, if it wasn't for magic, the avariel themselves wouldn't be able to fly. Aerie was always amazed by how lucky she was to live in such an amazing world.

But now, the inevitable had to happen. They crossed the city and reached a huge, sheer rock face that had grown arms all across it. These were actually landing pads, that the avariel had drawn out and moulded from the rock; one for each of the homes there. And standing on one of them was a woman, fair haired and blue eyed and wearing a gold and yellow tunic, pacing up and down with her hands clasped tightly as she fretted.

She looked up as the three approached, all her anxiety escaping in one very long breath. "… Aerie…" she ran as the girl's feet gently touched down on the pad, the two other adults just behind her. Aerie yelped, slightly, as the woman threw her arms around her and pulled her tight. But then the woman demanded, "where have you been?"

Nellas answered for her. "Out over the foothills, again."

Aerie had, for a moment, forgotten about the hunters, and the tough hardy lives they led, training and learning to use weapons to defend the avariel from any dangers… not that there was much. Maybe the odd dragon came by, but not in Aerie's life time… but in any case, what would they think seeing her being coddled like this!

The girl whispered between her teeth, "momma… you're embarrassing me…"

"Never mind that," her mother gasped, "what were you doing over the foothills? How many times must you be told? Stay in the mountains where it's safe!"

"It was fine. I was careful," Aerie insisted, but remembering the little incident when she was almost bitten, added, "mostly…"

Her mother cupped her face, turning it up toward her, so the girl could see the fear and worry and anguish in her shimmering eyes. "That is not the point," she explained. "The point is that anything could have happened, and we'd have had no idea where you were. And you have no idea how dangerous it can be out there…"

Aerie had heard all this, a hundred times, from every adult. It cause her heart to tighten every time her mother was sad and worried like this, but… the fact remained; she had explored by herself, many times, and nothing bad had ever happened to her. When were they going to learn that she could take care of herself? She was up to her mother's shoulder now, after all; soon she'd be just as big.

She put her hand up on her mother's wrist and, to the woman's dismay, pushed it away. "And you do?" Aerie grumbled. "You never leave the city… you barely even leave the house…" that wasn't true; her mother did leave the house, sometimes, to get food or go to perform at the theatre. But that was about it.

Her mother gasped, as Aerie took a few steps away from her and turned her back. The two hunters evidently decided at that point that they had outstayed their welcome.

"Ah, well… duty calls, I'm afraid," Thalion explained. "Good bye, Fayanna," he winked, "see you next time, I expect…"

Aerie's mother, Fayanna, startled, shaking her head. She turned and waved enthusiastically as the hunters left. "Thank you! Thank you for bringing her home to me," she remembered to say. Then she turned back to her daughter and hissed, "you just get inside…"

* * *

Fayanna took a moment to gather herself, and brush away some of the snow, before following her daughter through the arch.

The inside of avariel homes were always spacious, of course. And bright, due to the light stone walls and fairy lamps. Since they were lucky enough to have a home at the top of the cliff, a large circular opening in the roof, three storeys above, allowed them to look up and see the stars twinkling in the night sky. A round rail ran around each floor below that, beyond which were doors and archways that led into each of the bedrooms, bathrooms, studies and kitchen. Tapestries and paintings, some of a religious nature, some devoted simply to the wonder of nature, adorned the walls, while statues and potted plants with deep green leaves and flowers of bright and luminous colours stood in every corner and crevice.

Aerie was stood on a stool, leaning over a stand on which Fayanna had laid out some scrolls. She looked back as her mother entered, sighing deeply before hanging her head.

"I'm… I'm sorry, momma," she said, "but, you really shouldn't worry so much all the time…"

Fayanna shook her head. "It's my duty to worry. I just wish you would make it easier not to."

"But you can see I'm fine, can't you? I just want to be able to tell you about the things I've seen."

The woman sighed. She made her way over to her daughter, leaning slightly beside her before raising a hand to gently ruffle her hair. "What did you see?" She asked.

Aerie. "I… I saw some humans. They were using these big, four legged animals to pull their houses along… isn't that amazing?!"

"Caravans," Fayanna informed her. "I saw them, once. The humans didn't see you, did they?"

"No!" Aerie lied. But by now she'd worked out that her mother could always tell. "Well… most of them didn't. Just some children, playing… they wouldn't have hurt me, I don't think…"

Fayanna took a deep breath. "You can't know that, Aerie. What if their parents had been bad? Or you might have frightened them and they'd have lashed out… they're not used to seeing our kind."

"But… if we talked to them more, then they would know about us and wouldn't get frightened…"

"It's not that simple," the woman sighed.

"Why not? I've seen lots of humans, and none of them look like they want to hurt anyone."

"Maybe most of them don't; I think probably, most of them are good people. But, you have to remember, there are many, many more of them than there are of us, and they're not all the same. Some of them would try to hunt us and hurt us."

"Why?"

"Because we're different from them. We can fly; they can't. And as such, our perspectives and the way we think about the world and the way we live are very different. And sometimes, being different makes people afraid, and makes them hate."

Fayanna could see Aerie repeating all this in her head, turning it over, considering it from every angle; it made her mother smile. Finally, the girl said, "but, still, if we talked, we would find out which ones were good and which were bad…"

"We have all we need, here, don't we? We have food, our home, and each other. Where's the sense in taking any risks like that?"

"I don't know," Aerie admitted. Her daughter wasn't satisfied, but Fayanna was confident she would start to understand when she was a bit older.

"Now," Fayanna smiled more widely, "I have to think about how I'm going to punish you, don't I?"

"I suppose," the girl nodded in agreement, sighing. "By the way," she said, then suddenly picked up the scroll in front of her. Fayanna had forgotten about it. "What's this?"

"It's nothing," the woman tightened her lips and put a hand on her hip. "You… you put that back…"

"It says 'love potion'," Aerie sniggered. "Petals, a dove's feather," she read off the list, then made a face like she'd smelt something. "Ew… urine from a dog in heat… ewww… what does that mean?"

"It's the logic of magic," Fayanna sighed, "all of these things are symbolic in some way. You give flowers to one you love, the dove is a symbol of Sune, the goddess of love, and the dog in heat… well, I'll explain that when you're older. Now put it back."

But Aerie wasn't done, yet. "Why would you have this out, hm?" She giggled. "Is pa not paying you enough attention? Or," she gasped, "you haven't got your eye on someone else, have you?" Aerie spun around, arm across her forehead as she faked almost fainting. "Why… does no one ever think of the children?"

"Very funny," Fayanna said, tapping her foot. "Maybe one day you'll perform on stage. But as for that, its research for a new play I'm writing. Which you won't be in, because it's far too grown up."

"What's it about?"

"Do you not listen? Just put it back."

Aerie finally relented, skipping back and placing the scroll carefully back on the stand. "Where is pa, anyway?" She asked.

"Oh; I expect he won't be back until very late. They're up debating energy and entropy again; you know how heated that can get. Now… I seem to recall I was about to do something…"

"I'm hungry… so maybe you were going to get us both something to eat?"

Fayanna gently wagged her finger. "No; stop trying to distract me… I haven't forgotten. You disobeyed me, again, and I have to punish you. So, how are we to do that?"

The girl thought about it. "Hmm… how about I just promise not to do it again, and we leave at that?"

"And would you keep to such a promise?"

"We-ell," Aerie joined her hands together, shifting furtively. "I would try, at least…"

"That's what I thought," her mother smiled and shook her head, "no; I'm afraid I'm going to have to teach you a lesson. So, how about, after you've finished your schooling tomorrow, you have to come straight back home to tidy your room?"

Aerie's jaw hung open. "B-but…"

"I mean it. That place is like a raven's nest. All sorts of junk just strewn around…"

"It's not junk!" The girl protested, crossing her arms. "It's very important research!"

"Uh-huh… and what about all those stupid little stones you have?"

"They're not stupid stones! They're fossils! Do you know what they are? They're sea shells! I checked them at the library… isn't that amazing?"

"What? That you went to a library?"

"No!" Aerie punched her softly on the arm. "That there are sea shell fossils at the top of a mountain. How did they get there?"

"Well, presumably, someone, or some animal, brought them up here."

"What for?"

"To eat?"

"Uh-uh," Aerie shook her head adamantly. "It's a long way to go for food, isn't it? I checked the map in the library as well; the ocean is miles and miles away. I've never even seen it."

"So how do you think they got there?"

"Well," the girl put the finger on her lip, "at first, I thought maybe there had been a flood or a huge wave… but it would have to have been really huge…"

"Yes. I think my theory is more likely."

"But then I thought, maybe all the land was under water once, and the mountain just sort of grew over a really long time…"

"Have you ever seen a mountain growing?"

"No… but maybe it just happens so slowly that we don't," Aerie sighed. "I did think that maybe dragons were drinking from the sea and then vomiting it back up… but why would they do that? Dragons aren't that silly, are they?"

"Maybe you can ask one, one day."

The girl's eyes lit up. "That would be amazing! But… aren't dragons supposed to be bad?"

Fayanna sniggered. "Some are good, some are bad. But they're all quite rare…" there was to be more to that thought, but they were interrupted.

A harsh, high pitched female voice bellowed from the front arch. "Fayanna!"

Aerie's mother put a hand against temple, muttering. "By the goddess, what now? I mean… yes, Lar?"

Failariel, to give her full name, was a woman with sharp features, a stern face, and long, red hair braided very tightly. She looked furious about something, but it was hard to tell for sure. She had, in any case, forced her way into their home. But then, avariel hadn't a need for doors. Next to her was her son, about Aerie's age, but a little bit shorter and stockier. His messy red hair just had no order to it.

"Hello Dil," Aerie smiled and waved. Valandil was the boy's full name.

"Er… h-hi," he stammered and smiled back nervously. "I-I… I'm sorry about all this…"

Aerie tilted her head and blinked. "About what?"

The boy's mother leant over her, fuming. "Oh, you know what, you little…"

"Lar!" Fayanna screeched angrily as she saw the other woman raise her hand. "Why… don't you calm down and try to tell me about it, instead?"

The red haired woman straightened, nostrils twitching a few times as she turned away from Aerie to face her mother. "He won't sleep!" She complained. "He won't even go to the toilet, or any room, by himself anymore. And all because your little brat told him some disgusting horror story!"

This was not what she needed right now; Fayanna felt a real headache coming on. But, she still dared to ask, "Aerie?"

"I didn't tell him any stories!" Her daughter insisted.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," Aerie nodded affirmatively, "what I told him was the truth."

"And… what truth was that?"

"That there are demons who can get inside your body and eat your brain from the inside out."

Fayanna stared in disbelief. "Why… why would you… never mind. Just them it was only a story, and that you made it up."

Unfortunately, rather than helping to set her friends mind at ease, Aerie seemed shocked and outraged by the idea of covering up the truth. "But it's not a story!" She said adamantly. "It's true!"

"Aerie," Fayanna started to say more slowly, carefully enunciating every syllable. "Tell Dil you made it up… please…"

"It was in the book. There were pictures and everything!"

Failariel tutted and scoffed, "pathetic. You just have no control over her, do you?"

Fayanna short a sharp look back at her, but then threw her back, trying to stay calm. "I'm sorry. She… just has a very active imagination."

Aerie, arms crossed and tapping her shoulder, kept shaking her head. "I'll show you if you don't believe me," she said, then stomped away to another room.

"Well, until you learn to administer proper discipline," the red haired woman went on, "I am not letting her play with my boy."

The blonde woman sighed wearily. "It'll be hard to keep them apart, don't you think? Seeing as there is only one school here. Or do you plan to give up the theatre to tutor him yourself? I'm sure it would be a welcome move by many…"

Failariel sneered back, "watch it, Fay… let's try to keep this civil, hm? I know you've always had a somewhat loose approach to life, but, really… you just cannot let your child run wild like this."

"All she did was tell a story," Fayanna held her palms up, then let them drop to her sides. "And, honestly, maybe Dil wouldn't scare so easily if you didn't wrap him in so much wool. The world is not all sunflowers and rainbows, you know."

"I certainly did not come here to be lectured in parenting by you, of all people!"

"Oh!" Fay clearly had enough. Her whole body tensed as she lent toward the other woman. "Oh, no, I know; you came here to give a lecture. That's how it's always been with you, Lar; it's always everyone who's to blame but yourself!"

The redhead's body mirrored the blonde's almost exactly as she lent forward as well, so they were practically nose to nose, each refusing to back down. Dil quietly retreated into a corner as the two women stayed like that for what seemed like a long time. After a while, it seemed like Fayanna was starting to weaken as Failariel lent forward more.

The redhead laughed victoriously. "Ha! You've never had any back bone…" then her eyes spun in her head and she gagged.

"Look!" Aerie said, jumping up with her book open. "See that? See the pictures? It's all there!"

Failariel stumbled back, her cheeks puffing out. She tried to gasp. "… ye g-gods… I need a bucket… please…"

Fayanna stepped around and looked, her eyes wide, but not quite the visceral reaction of her rival. "Where did you find that?"

"The library," Aerie shrugged, "but, you see, it's written by a wizard and a professor. So it's all true."

Her mother didn't know what to say. But luckily, she remembered the bucket.

"I… I-I've got to go," Failariel stammered moments later, as Fay patted her to make sure she'd got it all out. "Come on, Dil."

"Bye Aerie," the boy waved back as he hurried after his mother. "I… I-I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Aerie stood on her toes as she waved back. "Okay!"

* * *

"Don't wanna go to sleep," Aerie yawned hours later. "Sleep… sleeps for sleepy people," she said, but her eyelids kept getting heavier and heavier as her mother carried her to her room and to her bed.

"I was like you, once," Fayanna said, whispering softly in her ear. "I never wanted to sleep; I always wanted to be awake and having adventures."

Aerie rubbed her eyes, trying hard to make them stay open. "What happened?"

"I met your father," she sighed, then smiled, "and then, the most wonderful thing; I met you as well."

The girl groaned. "That's… that's cheesy. And it's a cliché."

"Is it?" Her mother laughed. "Well, maybe; but some clichés are true."

Moments later, she was carefully laying down on a soft blue mattress. There was no need to tuck her daughter in; avariel tended to lie on their front, or side, with their wings covering them.

"You don't have to sleep," the child yawned again, more widely.

"The reverie," Fayanna nodded, "you'll learn it, soon. You're almost old enough."

"I won't be a girl anymore," Aerie put her head down, closing her eyes. "You won't be able to carry me."

Her mother smiled, kissing her head. "You know, wherever you go, and whatever you do, you'll always be my girl."

Aerie smiled too. She wrinkled her nose and said, "Cliché."

"Truth," Fayanna laughed. She ruffled her girl's hair again, then stood, leaving her daughter to dream.

And Aerie dreamt. She dreamt of dwarves in their mines, and of buried secrets and treasure. Of falling, and of fighting demons and meeting dragons, of the sea and the mountains, and gods and magic. Other planes and other worlds, sorcerers and wizards, witches and vampires, and ladies in castles, and songs and thieves…

And it was all the most amazing adventure.

Until she woke up.


	3. Chapter Two

**Wings**

**Chapter Two**

It was another bright day, the sun's rays reflecting brilliantly off the white snow of the mountains.

The teacher droned from the centre of a small amphitheatre, "the man bound and weighted inside the cave will see only the shadows of the things outside, and in time come to believe that the shadows are all that's real…"

The class were all sat around on stone steps listening to the parable being taught by the silver haired man. At the back, on the top step, Aerie leant over and sighed. She listened as well, but her eyes were drawn again and again to the distant horizon.

That morning, the class had been warned of a group of wyverns that had entered the mountain range to the south; the hunters were watching them. Although in truth, large aerial predators would rarely expend a lot of energy chasing after avariel. They were more of a threat to ground dwelling creatures they could dive on and grab and pick up. She worried about the humans in their little wooden houses on wheels; they seemed equipped to defend themselves from such monsters… her mother would be furious, but surely someone should try to warn them?

"Aerie?" She felt herself being nudged. She turned and found herself looking down her nose at a messy red haired boy, not seeming to recognise him for a second. "C'mon," Valandil smiled nervously, "y-you day dreaming?"

She realised she was, and sighed. Thinking she was going to swoop in and be some kind of hero… she couldn't even speak the same language as the humans. She was more likely to scare them again. Besides, they were on the opposite side of the mountains from the wyverns, who weren't likely to attempt passing through Faenya-Dail and an army of avariel hunters. They would most likely turn around again soon, and she needed to make sure that momma wasn't worried about her anymore.

"Sorry," she uttered, smiling back.

Dil croaked, "oh, i-it's okay. Just didn't want you to get caught, again."

There was an awkward pause, during which Dil tapped impatiently on the stone step, while Aerie kept trying to absorb the words being said; although in truth, she had already read the parable several times, and their current teacher did little to make it any more interesting. The man eventually came out of the cave, initially dazzled and frightened by the light outside, but in time would come to see the world as it really was and begin to contemplate his own place in it. Supposedly representing philosophy and the pursuit of wisdom, which avariel really liked… but wasn't it encouraging her to try to learn more about the rest of the world, and not only from a safe distance? None of the adults seemed to think so, always essentially saying that thought and reflection was a better way to truth than experience and evidence. It was well and good, but Aerie wasn't yet wholly convinced, since it seemed to just lead to people arguing all day and not working anything out.

Dil eventually spoke, disturbing her again as she reflected on these things. "I-I heard you had to be brought home, a-again," he stammered.

"I didn't have to be," Aerie insisted, "but, momma always gets so worried."

"I-it's," Dil's rolled onto its side, above his shoulder, "I don't wanna be rude, but… i-it's pretty dumb, Aer. I mean, t-there's all sorts of dangerous things out there, like all kinds of animals…"

The blonde girl sagged and sighed, "now you sound like her. But it's fine, if you know what you're doing; most animals won't even look at you unless you get too close. I'm here, aren't I?"

"But, w-what if one day you didn't come back? Think how sad everyone would be."

Aerie shook her head. She didn't want to make anyone sad, but she didn't want to be stifled and shut in either, especially since she was sure all the danger was exaggerated. As she shook, she caught the eye of another, brown haired girl who had turned around to look at them. She was sat with a much larger group of children further down. Larger than two of them, anyway.

"I don't think Isa would be too worried," the blonde observed, attempting to deflect the course of the conversation. Isa had been Aerie's best friend, once, but as they grew the brunette became more interested in hair and dresses and hanging around the most popular boy in the school, while Aerie had remained somewhat more esoteric. In her new circle of friends, Isa seemed to regard her previous association with the blonde as an embarrassment.

Dil dismissed the other girl, "I-I'd be worried about you. I… don't want you do get hurt," he flushed.

Aerie hadn't quite heard the last part, but she smiled. "Well, maybe you should come with me?"

"M-me?!" He held his palms out and grinned nervously. "O-oh no… y-you know me; I'm not dumb or brave enough to have adventures."

"So how'd you get cast as the dumb child in the play?"

"I don't know… I-I never said anything, I swear!" He said. They'd been trying not to draw attention to themselves up to now, but when they then laughed the teacher's eyes fell on them both.

"Aerie, Dil… stand up!" The severe looking silver haired man demanded. The children gasped and squeaked, but obediently they stood.

"So, is something amusing to you two?"

Aerie shuffled slightly as the eyes of everyone in the class fell on her. "Well," she said, arms behind her back and one foot scratching the other shin. "Yes, sir. That's why we laughed."

The teacher glared, a little bit of blood rushing to his head. "Well, maybe you'd like to share the joke with all of us?"

"Hm… n-no sir. See, you've changed the atmosphere, so I don't think it would be funny now," her brazen cheekiness got a few sniggers from the other children, while the teacher turned redder.

"Quiet!" He barked, then composed himself. Evidently intent on quelling this sudden rebellion at the source, thus gaining the respect of the other pupils, he then asked, "Well then, Aerie, as you're so clever, maybe you'd explain the meaning of the parable we've all been listening to?"

"Yes sir, alright," she cleared her throat. "You see, the men held prisoner in the cave represent people caught up in the world of their senses, while the man who is freed and brought up the mountain represents the ascent to the world of the intellectual and wise. It's frightening and confusing at first, but the truth can only be arrived at and seen with effort. I think that's what the parable is saying, sir."

Redder and redder, the teacher squawked, "right! So… y-you were paying attention. Good. Well," things obviously hadn't gone according to his plan. The teacher tapped his finger on his elbow for a few seconds, before giving up. "Sit down, then. But, I'll tolerate no further disturbances, do you hear?"

"Yes sir. I'm sorry, sir," Aerie bowed and took her seat. As she did, she caught of Isa again, glaring disapprovingly at her, then turning and whispering something to fair haired Caran, the most popular boy in the school.

* * *

Lunch consisted of dry leaves and the juice of some strange fruit, again. There was also some meat that one of the hunters had brought back and left in the school. Aerie hoped it wasn't one of those yappy, barky things… she felt she could probably eat a horse, though.

"What happened to Helya?" Aerie absently asked. 'Helya' was the name of the teacher they were used to, but she'd been gone for some time now. "I thought she would have had her baby by now."

Dil swallowed a leaf, then tried to explain, leaning over in an almost conspiratorial manner. "Mother said she did, a while ago," he said, "but… the priests looked at the baby and said it… i-it wasn't right. So she had to give it away. Mother said we weren't to talk about it anymore."

Aerie blinked, her nose wrinkled and her whole face perplexed. "But, I don't understand… the baby… the baby is alive, right?"

"I think so," Dil shrugged.

"So why would they make her give it away? Shouldn't that be up to her? And who'd she have to give it away to?"

"I-I don't know… mother wouldn't say any more. B-but, H-hel probably won't come back, now."

"That's understandable," the girl hung and shook her head. Poor Helya; she'd seemed so happy before, when she told the class she was pregnant. Now she must be so sad. But why? Aerie hated when adults wouldn't explain things to them.

Dil deftly changed the subject. "'Ere… d-did you see the look on old Ol's face?" He grinned, referring to silver haired Eolus, their current teacher. "y-you really made him look pretty stupid…"

"Eh… he's a finicky old grump," she said, chewing on another leaf, "I wish he would lighten up."

"You know though, h-he said he saw a ghost, once."

Aerie lit up at that. "He did? What happened?"

"Apparently, he was looking for a key, but couldn't find it anywhere in his home," Dil leant toward, glancing back and forth as if he was afraid who might be listening. "But then, he gave up and sat down, and when he stood up… the key dropped to the floor in front of him. Then he saw a strange shape moving away down the hall…"

"Oh," the blonde girl squished her nose, "that's not very scary."

"Well… i-it's a bit scary. A ghost who plays mind games with you like that…"

"No… I think a scary ghost would be one with no jaw and maggots in its eyes that screams in your face before dragging you down through the floor into the fiery pits of hell…"

The colour suddenly drained from Dil's cheeks, even as he choked on a bit of vegetation. Aerie, as if she'd done so many times, casually slapped him on the back until he gasped, "w-what's wrong with you?"

"With me?" Aerie blew a stray strand of hair from her face as she grinned, "you're the wrong who always wants to talk to me."

"Well… t-that's because no one else will let me," he flushed. "Why… w-hy do you? I mean, y-you could be friends with Isa again…"

"No… I think when I broke her arm, that put an end to our friendship." It had been an accident, of course; they'd been struggling over a book they both wanted. Isa was stronger than Aerie, but it worked against her; she yanked and pulled the book away, but then lost her balance and fell on a rock.

"Y-you could find a way to make it even, maybe."

"I tried," Aerie sighed, "I said I'd break her other arm too, but she wasn't having it…"

"Heh… but if you had, y-you could have been friends with Caran. E-everyone likes him."

"Pfft… why? Sure, he's pretty, but he's just a bully, really. Besides, all that lot are boring; they only ever talk their hair and clothes," she said, theatrically yawning. She wondered why her friend was suddenly concerned about Isa, looking at Dil with his head bowed miserably. She looked about to where he would have been looking while talking to her, to the other side of the quadrangle where her old friend, Caran and a few other of his hangers on were sat looking back at them. Pointing, whispering and mockingly laughing. Aerie sighed, "just ignore them. They're dummies."

"I-it's not so easy to ignore people when you're the most unpopular boy in school… t-there's not much to distract you…"

The blonde protested, "Hey! I like you. You're not saying I'm boring, are you?"

Dil gasped, looking terrified. "No! O-of course not… I-I just… I wish I wasn't so scared all the time…"

"Oh, you've just got to get out more and learn about stuff. I think, when you start to properly understand a thing, you see it's really not so scary."

"Maybe," the boy grinned, "you… y-you're pretty smart, though."

Aerie sucked in a breath, closing her eyes as she leant back. "I know," she smiled, "but, you are too. We've just got to find a way for you to be more confident."

"S-suppose we did, a-and then I became the most popular boy in school. But then, who'd be friends with you?"

"You wouldn't abandon me, would you?" The girl thought. "Maybe I'd have created a monster… hmm… no, you're right. Best leave you as you are. You want me to help paint your toy soldiers later?"

Dil sighed desperately. "T-they're not toys, Aerie," he insisted. "They're figures… i-it's a grown up hobby. A-and they're all painted, now."

"Then maybe we can play a battle?"

"Oh… f-fine… b-but I'm being the elves."

"That's okay," the fair haired girl held a thumb up as she smiled sweetly. "I like the orcs best, anyway. Me and ma'boys'll pound 'ya; then we'll use your bones as drumsticks and drink blood from yer skulls."

"S-savages…"

* * *

Even avariel had to answer calls of nature sometimes. As Aerie answered hers, she wondered why the gods had made people that way. You needed a way to get rid of waste, she supposed, but if it was up to her she'd have made it all solidify into a cube then have a drawer in your belly you could open and just dispose of it when you wanted. Okay, it sounded silly, but they were gods; they could have magicked whatever design they wanted rather than make everyone go through all this messy business all the time.

Once she was done, and through criticizing the gods for their inefficient design, she washed herself, then went outside to have a drink from the fountain. It was as she was rinsing her mouth out that she noticed some commotion.

A large group of children had gathered in tight semi-circle against the wall of the library. Usually when such gatherings took place, it was because a fight had broken out. Aerie had no interest in such foolishness, and was headed back to finish her lunch when she noticed Dil wasn't there. She supposed he might have answered a call as well, but looking around and then hearing the familiar and oh-so-imaginative taunts of 'his head's on fire', she gritted her teeth and decided she had to investigate.

There was no way she could push her way through the crowd, so she fluttered up to the roof and looked back down. Sure enough, there was Dil, backed up against the wall by fair, curly haired Caran and his gang. The red haired boy was sobbing, and trying desperately to apologize for whatever it was he had done, even though it was most likely just in their imaginations.

Cowards… Aerie spat. They'd obviously just been waiting for Dil to be alone before picking on him. Dil only had Aerie for a friend; everyone else thought he was too strange and quiet and cried too much, and so everyone took Caran's side when he bullied the other boy, regardless of whether he was right or not. Which of course encouraged the blond boy to do it more often. Caran's father was the high priest, and he was the best at games, and so good looking… not everyone thought so, though, and Aerie wasn't going to put with this.

She dropped off the roof, wings spread and curved slightly so that she sailed straight down. Caran felt her shadow, stepping back just before her feet touched the ground in front of him. As if he wasn't surprised enough, she then shoved him so that he fell back into the crowd.

There was shocked silence all around, until Isa clenched her fist and spat, "you little…"

Aerie turned, ready to try and block the swing, but then a voice called, "wait!"

Caran stood up straight, fixing his tunic. Although not much than anyone else, his lungs were powerful and his height and stature meant he could command the other children easily. "What are playing at, Aerie?" He asked, towering several inches above her, "you don't know what's going on. You should stay out of it."

But the blonde girl, her body tense, leant forward jabbing him in the chest. "Oh; I think I know," she said, "you think it impresses people to pick on someone weak. Well it doesn't impress me!"

Behind her, Dil nervously made pyramids with his hands. "Uh… A-Aerie… I am still here, you know… you don't have to call me weak…"

"Oh… sorry. But I mean… there are five of you picking on one boy. Do you think that makes you look tough? Really?"

"He stuck his tongue out while we were having lunch!" Isa declared.

"No he didn't! He was with me the whole time."

"And I heard him calling us dumb!"

"And you thought that was an insult? It would only be an insult to dumb people."

Isa lunged forward, screaming and with her fist drawn back. But Caran held an arm up across her chest, easily stopping her. He glared down at Aerie, who still held her ground.

"I don't really have a problem with you, Aerie," the curly haired bully started to warn, "so, I suggest you mind your own business."

Aerie stepped forward more, almost face to face with the taller boy. "Well," she said, "I suggest you grow some guts. I've decided to make it my business, so if you want me to get out the way, you'll have to make me."

Caran tried to conceal the snarl forming on his normally handsome features. He must have known now how Eolus must have felt; this wasn't turning into the humiliation of his foes that he'd have wanted. He must also have noticed that there was a muttering in the crowd of people starting to express their support, for Aerie. He tested her resolve once more, stepping and leaning forward; she didn't back away.

At last he spat, and turned away. "Come on," he told his group. "We'll let 'em off… this time."

Isa immediately started protesting; obviously wanting revenge on the blonde. "But…"

"Come on!" Caran ordered more forcefully. "They're not worth it."

Moments later, seeing that no action was going to take place, the rest of the crowd started to disperse. Aerie fell back against the wall, her cheeks red and shoulders heaving as she tried to slow her heart to a manageable pace. "Are… are you okay?" She asked breathlessly.

"I-I'm okay," Dil assured her, "what about you?"

"I'm… I-I'm okay…"

"T-that was… I mean, you were amazing!" He beamed. "Y-you're not scared of anything, are you?"

Aerie turned her head, looking confusedly at him. She then looked at her hands, still shaking uncontrollably. "I was terrified," she explained. "Each one of them is bigger than me. I suppose I might have hurt one, if they started fighting… I guess he didn't want to risk it."

"You… y-you're so wise…" Dil said with a big, dreamy grin.

"Uh-huh," Aerie looked back again, even more confused. "I think I was more lucky than wise, really."

"Gotta agree with that… Y-you're a lucky, yucky girl."

* * *

Caran stood straight with his arms crossed, glaring down into the quadrangle where Aerie and Valandil playfully shoved each other.

"Why'd we leave?" Isa hissed furiously. "You really gonna let her get away with being in your face like that?"

The fair haired boy shook his blond curls. "Of course not," he assured her.

"She's not very strong; we could have taken her and that freckled and speckled twit easily."

"You don't think, do you?" The boy sighed. "If we beat her up then, everyone would have taken her side. They'd have treated her like some stupid hero, so she'd still have won."

"But…"

"Don't bother trying to understand; we don't have all month. Just trust me," he narrowed his eyes toward a distant mountain. "There are caves there, right? Some old dwarven mine…"

"Yeah? So what?"

"I said trust me," his eyes narrowed further, accompanied by a thin grin. "She won't get away…"


End file.
